Techno Blog

Clean Virus with Free Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010

sahlan — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 23:39:45 +0000

One of some useful free tools obtained by Kaspersky Lab is Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010 or AVPTool 2010. This freeware tool can be used for curing computers infected with viruses and other malware. I’ve experienced using this tool for curing my collogue computer who’s accidentally clicking link into malware sites, and yet his antivirus is not good enough in protecting from malwares. Since it is free, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010 has some difference with others Kaspersky commercial software (like Kaspersky Anti Virus or Kaspersky Internet Security) which is:

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010 does not have a function to update its antivirus database. The only way to get the newest its antivirus database is to download it again from Kaspersky servers and install it again. You need to uninstall the older version before installing a newer one. Be careful, your computer may crash to BSOD, hang, etc. in the result of simultaneous execution of more than one version of Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010.
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010 is not mean to providing continuous protection on your computers. After successful disinfection of a computer, it is recommended to uninstall Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010 and install a fully functional antivirus, either commercial or a best free antivirus.
It only works by on demand scan mode. It does not have feature to work in real-time mode.
It comes with no technical support except through Kaspersky Lab forum discussions.

In order to work with Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010, follow this step-by-step guidance given by Kaspersky support:

Download Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010
Install it by run the downloaded file setup and follow the instruction.After check to accept the agreement, you should select the folder you want to install the application in (the folder by default is in your desktop).
In order to run automatic scan of your computer by Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010, perform the following actions:

Open the main application window and go to the Autoscan tab.

Check the boxes for the areas to be scanned. By default Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2010 scans for viruses System memory, Disk boot sectors and Hidden startup objects. You can define the scan area by checking the necessary scan areas on the Autoscan tab.

Select the required actions to be performed on detected threats by clicking the link in the On threat detection line.

Click on the start scan button. Wait until the process is complete.

Once the scan task is started, the program will detect and automatically delete all known viruses, rootkits, Trojan programs and worms. The application will perform the following actions on threat detection:

Prompt when the scan is complete (if you selected Prompt on completion).
Prompt for action on each threat detection (if you select Prompt for action).
Disinfect or delete; or delete an infected object if disinfection fails (if you checked Select action: Disinfect and Delete/Delete if disinfection fails).

Access Control by Network Firewalls

sahlan — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:01:52 +0000

Computer networks can be protected from internal and external threats by using firewalls. The concept is that a specially configured firewall on the network will block unwanted access. However, this is a grossly misunderstood concept, and many organizations do not understand firewall capabilities and limitations. As a result, there can be a false sense of security. Let’s consider the advantages and disadvantages of network firewalls:

Firewall advantages Reduces external access to the network.

Firewall disadvantages There is always a hole for traffic to pass through—either good traffic or bad traffic or both. A firewall can control only the traffic that passes directly through it. It does not protect modems or other access points. A firewall can be misconfigured or technically circumvented. There is no such thing as a completely safe firewall. The firewall concept creates a false sense of security.

Network firewalls have undergone several generations of improvement. The first generation was simply a router with a primitive access list specifying the to destination and the sender’s from network addresses. Attackers became more sophisticated, and so did the need for better firewalls. The following are the different generations of firewall technology:

First generation: Packet filter

The first generation was a packet filter. Filtering is based on the sending and receiving address combined with the service port (a packet). The advantage of this design is its low cost. The first-generation packet filter design was prone to problems. The design was plagued with poor logging and granular rules that were difficult to implement effectively. Hackers were still able to get in.

Second generation: Application proxy filter

A firewall application program was added to the first-generation design of packet filtering. The second generation uses an application proxy to relay requests through the firewall. The proxy checks the inbound request to ensure that it complies with safe computing in both format and type of request. Application proxies perform user requests without granting direct access to the target software. The application proxy is also referred to as a circuit-level firewall. This is because the application proxy is required to complete the circuit; otherwise, no connection exists. This design improved event logging; however, hackers were still able to get in.

Third generation: Stateful inspection

Hackers were able to trick second-generation firewalls by sending a request that was formatted to bypass the proxy design. Application proxy firewalls relied on open connections maintained with the user. Connectionless sessions such as the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) in IP were not protected. In the third generation, UDP connectionless requests are recorded into a history table. The historic “state” of connectionless requests is now controlled by the firewall for better protection. This is referred to as stateful inspection. Stateful inspection is the de facto minimum standard for network firewall technology. However, still there is room for improvement.

Fourth generation: Adaptive response

Improvements in technology allow the firewall to communicate with an intrusion detection system. This provides an adaptive response to network attacks. The firewall administrator can configure stored procedures designed to rebut many types of firewall attack. The firewall can reconfigure itself to block ports or reset connections. One drawback is that a skilled attacker may masquerade as a critical device such as a necessary server. The fourth-generation firewall could accidentally disable the critical device, which would create a denial of service problem.

Fifth generation: Kernel process

The fifth-generation firewall is actually an internal control mechanism designed into the operating system kernel. Individual processing requests are verified against an internal access control list. Those not on the list are rejected. Special military systems have been using fifth-generation firewalls for many years. Microsoft Windows XP has implemented a basic fifth-generation firewall.

The network firewall is the best defense for protecting a network. Each generation provides different levels of cost and protection. Network firewalls can be implemented by using one of three basic designs.

The first method is the screened host implementation. The screened host protects a single host through the firewall. The host computer is strongly defended. It is expected that this host may be attacked. Technical manuals may refer to this as the bastion host.

bastion host

The second method of firewall implementation is to install two interface cards in the same host. This method is referred to as to dual-homed. The host computer is configured with the routing disabled. A special software application such as an application proxy relays appropriate communication between the two interface cards. This is the configuration of many Internet firewalls.

dual homed host

The third method of firewall implementation is known as the screened subnet, or DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) design. DMZ is a term that refers to the demilitarized zone between enemy forces on a battlefield. The DMZ design allows several computers to be placed in a protected subnet that is accessible from the outside and by systems inside the network. Any military veteran will tell you that it’s possible to be attacked and killed in the DMZ. The same applies to computers located here.

Screened subnet - DMZ map

Firewall systems should be implemented to support a separation of duties. Separation of duties is just as important for machines as for personnel. The intention is to provide additional layers of control. Separate firewalls allow tighter access-control rules. Selected data is mirrored from internal production servers to a DMZ server for access by business partners or clients. This eliminates the dangers of direct access to an internal server. In addition, the redundancy improves overall availability. An outage would affect a smaller audience.

Taken from:
CISA® Study Guide Second Edition (chapter 7) by David L. Cannon
Picture taken by Googling

Kaspersky Total Uninstaller/Removal Tool

sahlan — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:41:41 +0000

Do you have Kaspersky Lab products (like Kaspersky Anti-Virus or Kaspersky Internet Security) installed on your computer? Are you planning to use another product or upgrade the previous to a newer version? If yes, first thing you have to do is uninstall it. However, many users find error in uninstalling Kaspersky products when using standard procedures to uninstall an application through Start > Control Panel > Add\RemovePrograms. As a result, those applications may not uninstall correctly or some parts of the application remain in the system and may influence your computer health.

To totally uninstall Kaspersky, you need kavremover. A small Kaspersky uninstaller/removal tool enables you to complete uninstall of the Kaspersky products, which are:

Kaspersky Small Office Security 2 for Personal Computer/for File Server
Kaspersky PURE/PURE R2
Kaspersky Anti-Virus (all versions)
Kaspersky Internet Security (all versions)
Kaspersky Password Manager (all versions)
AVP Tool driver

However, under 64-bit operating system, kavremover does not uninstall Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0/7.0 and Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0/7.0. That removal utility only deletes activation information, so you are required to activate a newly installed Kaspersky product once again.

In order to fully uninstall Kaspersky product, follows this guidance from Kaspersky support page:

Download the Kaspersky uninstaller tool on your computer. You can download the archive version kavremover.zip or download the executable file kavremover.exe
Run the file kavremover.exe you have downloaded.
Enter the code from the picture. If you cannot read the code from the picture, click on the button next to the picture to generate a new code.
In the Following products were detected option, select the required product to be uninstalled. If you wish to delete some products, it is required to delete them separately. If the utility has not detected any Kaspersky product, but you are sure that one of the above-mentioned applications is installed on your computer, select the installed product from the list. Alternatively, you can also select Remove all known products.
Click on the button Remove. The removal process may take some minutes. Wait until a dialog window appears to inform you that the product was successfully removed. Click OK.
Reboot your computer to finish uninstallation.

Kerberos Single Sign-On

sahlan — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 01:26:24 +0000

All computer networks are prone to access control problems. It is an ongoing challenge to provide access to legitimate users while blocking access from all others. Computer users demand ease of use, while computer custodians strive for tighter controls. Unfortunately, network access is predominantly a perimeter defense. Better controls are sorely needed at the application level. Several technologies made to improve network access controls by implementing a higher-security system that is easier for the user. One of the most common examples is Kerberos, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Kerberos single sign-on (SSO) system was developed to improve both security and user satisfaction. The name Kerberos refers to the mythical three-headed dog guarding the gates to the underworld. Kerberos provides security when the end points of the network are safe but the transmission path cannot be trusted—for example, when the servers and workstations are trusted but the network is not.

The concept of operation is for the user to log in once to Kerberos. After login, the Kerberos system authenticates the user and grants access to all resources. The process works as follows:

The user authenticates to the Kerberos workstation software. Authentication may be a password or a biometric method.
The workstation software authenticates to the Kerberos server.
Shared encryption keys are used. A network access ticket is created by Kerberos.
A Kerberos access ticket is sent to the workstation, signed in the workstation’s shared encryption key. All other network servers receive a similar ticket granting the workstation access to shared servers.
The user is automatically signed in to all servers.

The belief is that a user with a strong password and strong encryption will improve overall security. Unfortunately, Kerberos works only with specially modified versions of software designed for use with Kerberos. Merely installing Kerberos will not improve security. There are compatibility problems with different versions of implementation.

Special skills and experience are required to make a Kerberos installation successful. First, a knowledgeable installer will understand how to use separate domains to partition Kerberos access for better security. Second, restoring data from tape backup is quite involved. The Kerberos system must be shut down and the date rolled back to the timestamp of the file being restored. As soon as the file is restored, the time clocks must be rolled forward again with the system resynchronized for the users. Any compromise of the Key Distribution Center (KDC) means that the entire system is compromised and must be shut down. Using Kerberos requires highly experienced system administrators.

To explore in deep about Kerberos, visit this MIT-Kerberos page.

Taken from:
CISA® Study Guide Second Edition (chapter 7) by David L. Cannon
Picture taken by Googling

Free 6 Month License: Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 and Internet Security 2011

sahlan — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:01:19 +0000

Panda Security, antivirus publisher which well-known of its antivirus suites: Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 and Internet Security 2011, has promotional programs by giving 6 month free license of those Panda suites. Some said that Panda antivirus is very popular in Spain, so they make this give away page in Spanish. Both Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 and Internet Security 2011 work on Windows XP, Vista and 7, either 32 or 64-bits.

Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 offers protection for your computer from viruses, spyware, root kits, hackers and online fraud. This may you make chat, share photos and videos, do online shopping and banking, read your favorite blogs or browse the web with safety. Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 key features are:

Antivirus
Firewall
Multimedia/Gaming Mode
Home Network Manager
Plus Safe Browser (Sandboxing)

Panda Internet Security 2011 offers protection for you to use the Internet transaction, like shopping and banking online. Its features protect you from viruses, hackers, online fraud, identity theft and all the other known and unknown threats. Additional features are inbox spam-free, Parental Control, and Panda Safe Browser which may you to browse the web privately and securely. Panda Internet Security 2011 key features are:

Antivirus
Firewall & Identity Protect
Anti-Spam & Parental Control
New! Multimedia/Gaming Mode
New! Home Network Manager
New! Remote PC Access
Plus! Safe Browser (Sandboxing)

If you want to install it on your PC/laptop, just download and install the software. The license key and serial number is pre-activated, which means it will work without the need to activate. Go to this Panda promotional page. Click on the blue or green button “DESCARGAR GRATIS”. Happy download.

Best Free Antivirus

sahlan — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 23:58:02 +0000

If you have decided to install free antivirus on your PC/laptop, please consider this best free antivirus. Even though it is definitely free, their performances are considerably impressive. This test was held by PC World in November 2010. It was six month ago, but I think this report still can be useful. Those five best free antivirus are belong to: Avast Free Antivirus, Avira AntiVir Personal, Microsoft Security Essentials, Panda Cloud Antivirus, and Comodo Internet Security Premium.

1^st Best Free Antivirus: Avast Free Antivirus

Avast Free Antivirus get best strong malware-detection scores, good design, fast scan, and low system drag. It has easy installation process, smooth interface design, and minimal impact on system performance. It also did a good job at disinfecting a PC. In their newest version, Avast Free 6, it’s equipped with additional features: auto sandbox, which usually given in commercial version. It gives an upgrade link in the upper-right corner of the main window (Do you consider it is disturbing views?).

Download Avast Free Antivirus

2^nd Best Free Antivirus: Avira AntiVir Personal

Avira AntiVir Personal has excellent malware detection and blocking. It scan speeds are also very good. In addition, AntiVir Personal’s impact on overall system performance was low. AntiVir Personal, like Avira’s other products, has been a strong nominee in the past, and this latest version continues that trend. The minus point is Avira interface not so good, it need some make up improvement. And AntiVir Personal has the most false positives among the free antivirus products they tested.

Download Avira AntiVir Personal

3^rd Best Free Antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials is simple to use, but it performance is still behind other free antivirus in detecting malware. Although has slow scan speed, Security Essentials had a fairly low impact on overall PC performance. There’s a lot to like about Microsoft Security Essentials, but we its malware detection and attack blocking are rather disappointed. But after all, this antivirus software is only as good as its ability to keep your PC protected. Hopefully, Microsoft will strengthen Security Essentials’ threat-blocking capabilities in future update.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials

4^th Best Free Antivirus: Panda Cloud Antivirus

Panda Cloud Antivirus is easy to use, but its scanning speeds are slower than average. Scan speeds, though, lagged well behind the pack. Cloud Antivirus completed a manual (on-demand) scan is the slowest time recorded in this test. It also fared poorly in on-access scan tests. And although its impact on overall PC performance was fairly limited relative to other free antivirus products, Cloud Antivirus significantly slowed startup and shutdown times in our tests. Panda Cloud Antivirus is definitely worth considering on the strength of its signature-based detection tests.

Download Panda Cloud Antivirus

5^th Best Free Antivirus: Comodo Antivirus

Comodo Antivirus did a good job at blocking brand-new malware and has a firewall, but its inconsistent overall detection performance makes it tough to recommend. Its detection of known malware lagged behind top performers, though, and it tied for the most false positives. Comodo Antivirus had a relatively slight impact on PC performance. It added less than 1 second to startup times when compared to a PC with no antivirus software installed, but some file copy and download tests took longer than the average result. Comodo Antivirus is by no means a bad product, but its mixed detection scores make it hard to recommend. It may be worth considering on the strength of its detection of brand new malware, but you can find security products that are better rounded.

Download Comodo Antivirus

Using Biometrics: Problems with Biometrics

sahlan — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 02:10:34 +0000

Using biometric systems has some drawbacks. How will the biometric results be used? Is the biometric system expected to provide identification or authentication? Biometric systems face issues of social acceptability. The users may have concerns about sanitary health issues regarding physical contact or about invasion of privacy. Biometric data must be managed to ensure the security of initial data collection, data distribution, and processing. A biometric data policy is required to specify the data life cycle and control procedures. Biometric data must always be protected for confidentiality and integrity.

Error rates exist in all automated systems, and biometric systems are no different. It is possible for an error to occur during data collection or data processing. The following are various types of errors that can occur in a biometric system:

Enrollment Every user provides a sample for the biometric system during the enrollment process. The sample may fail to be accepted by the system. The typical enrollment process should take only 2 to 5 minutes; any longer could lead to user dissatisfaction.
Failure to enroll On rare occasions, the user’s data will not be accepted by the system. This is referred to as failure to enroll (FTER). It could be due to image quality, calibration, system problems, or the scanner not interpreting a person’s physical abnormalities.
False rejection A legitimate person could be rejected and fail authentication; the correct user fails to authenticate. This failure to accept a legitimate user is known as the false rejection rate (FRR) or type 1 error. The biometric system rejects a legitimate user. This is considered a type 1 error because it is the most common type of error.
False acceptance It is possible for the system to permit access to an individual who should have been rejected; the wrong person is authenticated. This is referred to as the false acceptance rate (FAR) or type 2 error. The biometric system accepts an unauthorized user.
False Acceptance Rate vs False Rejection Rate
Equal error/crossover error rate Every system has a delicate balance of speed over efficiency. In biometrics, this balance is referred to as the equal error rate (ERR) or the crossover error rate (CER). The biometric system is not perfect. An acceptable error rate will always exist.
Throughput rate How many people (samples) can the system process and still have reasonable accuracy? Lower throughput may be acceptable in situations of higher risk. Higher throughput may be better in low-risk situations such as the collection of visitors’ fingerprints at turnstiles entering an amusement park.

Taken from:

CISA® Study Guide Second Edition (chapter 7) by David L. Cannon

Picture taken from here

Using Biometrics: Characteristics Categories

sahlan — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:40:50 +0000

Biometrics uses unique physical characteristics to authenticate the identity claimed by the user. This is accomplished by using either physiological characteristics or behavioral characteristics. You are expected to understand the different types of biometric data used for authentication.

Using Physiological Characteristics

These are considered strong authenticators of the user’s identity because they are difficult to forge. A risk still exists in the management of the biometric sample and system implementation.

Fingerprint Fingerprints have been used for many years to identify people, especially criminal offenders. In biometrics, the fingerprint is used to authenticate (not identify) the user. Information about the user’s fingerprint is recorded into a biometrics database. Rather than the actual image, only summary lists of unique feature characteristics are recorded about the fingerprint. These features include curvature, position, ridge patterns, delta (separation), combined ridges (crossover), islands, and burification (ridge join). The feature data recorded in the database is called minutiae. When the user logs in, the minutiae are identified by the acquisition hardware and compared to the database. Authentication occurs when the acquired minutiae data from the biometrics scanner matches the minutiae from the database. Using fingerprint minutiae instead of capturing the image allows a smaller file size to be stored. Minutiae file size is usually 250 bytes to more than 1,000 bytes.
Palm print A person’s palm print is as unique as a fingerprint. Like a fingerprint, the palm of the hand contains a significant number of unique minutiae plus additional wrinkle lines, blood vessel patterns, and scars. The palm offers a larger volume of data.
Hand geometry The concept of hand geometry is to measure the details of a person’s hand in a three-dimensional image. The usual technique is to put your hand into a machine with your fingers spread between metal pegs. Another method in hand geometry is to grasp a metal knob or bar while sensors measure your knuckle creases or blood vessel patterns. Hand geometry is quite effective and inexpensive.
Retina scan The retina, located at the rear of the eyeball, contains a unique pattern of tiny veins and arteries that reflect light. The red-eye in photographs is the reflection of the retina. Changes in the retina occur during a person’s life. Some of these changes may signal the onset of a new medical condition, such as stroke or diabetes. Users may be concerned about physiological issues or the possible invasion of privacy. Overall, retina scanning is very reliable.
Iris scan Iris-scanning technology is based on visible features of freckles, rings, and furrows in the color ring surrounding the eye’s pupil. The iris provides stable data from one year of age through a person’s entire life. The visible features and their location are combined to form an iris-code digital template. To use an iris scanner, a person is asked to look into an eyepiece and focus on a displayed image. A camera records a picture of the iris and compares it to the biometric database to ensure that the viewer is a living person. Colored contacts would fail the iris scan. Iris scanning is very dependable.
Face scan New face-scanning technology uses a series of still images captured by video camera. The technology uses three-dimensional measurements of facial features, including the position of eye sockets, nose, mouth openings, and heat pattern thermograph. The feature data is extracted from the image to form a digital facial template of 1,000 to 1,500 bytes. Major advances are occurring in facial recognition that reduce former problems of speed and accuracy.

Using Behavioral Characteristics

Behavioral characteristics are considered a weak type of authentication because of concerns about their authenticity. Behavior is easier to forge than physical characteristics. For example, in my childhood, I taught my little brother how to speak. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to distinguish even the slightest difference in our voices. My father’s handwriting impressed me when I was learning to write in cursive. After much practice, my signature in sixth grade looked exactly like his. That illustrates the problem.

Signature dynamics Signature dynamics is a behavioral form of biometric data. The user’s signature is monitored for time duration, pressure, and technique. The advantage is the low cost of implementation. The disadvantage is that many individuals do not write their signature consistently. Some individuals, such as celebrities and authors of this Study Guide, refuse to allow their signature to be digitally recorded because it is still used as the primary means of authenticating legal documents.
Voice pattern Voice pattern recognition is an inexpensive method of identifying a person by the way they talk. Voice pattern recognition is not the same as speech recognition. Speech recognition assembles sounds into words. Voice pattern analysis checks for characteristics of pitch, tone, and sound duration. A person’s voice is analyzed for unique sound characteristics, tone, inflection, and speed. The typical method is to ask a user to repeat a particular pass phrase. The characteristics of the pass phrase are converted into a digital template. Voice pattern recognition is less expensive and less accurate than other types of biometrics. Voice authentication can be fooled by recorded audio playback of a person’s voice.

Here is comparison of usability versus security of biometrics authentication. It shows old idiom in security world, simplicity is a trade off with security level.

Taken from:

CISA® Study Guide Second Edition (chapter 7) by David L. Cannon

Picture taken by Googling

Free Antivirus vs. Commercial Antivirus

sahlan — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:02:13 +0000

Some of antivirus companies usually group their antivirus products for end users into this class: free antivirus, commercial antivirus, and security suites (sometimes, they named it with premium security or internet security). The different between those products is additional features included, for example: firewalls, parental controls, identity theft protection, and system performance tools. The more features included and better performance, come with higher price you have to paid. So, which one is the best for you? Is free antivirus good choice? Do we have to use the commercial version?

Free antivirus designed to provide minimum level of security protection. Even though it lays on the basic level, it still can protect your computer from virus, worm, malware, Trojan, and others malicious programs. Most of it can perform automatic scans, but some only can do on demand scan. Some free antiviruses have additional protection tools, such as browser add-on, firewall, sandbox environment, mail protection and firewall. However, that features usually only available in commercial antivirus/security suites products. Almost all free antivirus only licensed to personal user and non-for profit organization.

Commercial antivirus lies in the middle level of security protection between the basic free antivirus and the full feature security suites. It usually equips with more comprehensive security protection tools, better performance (faster scans), and more flexibility than a free antivirus. Some has subtle different features with free antivirus, but it licensed to for profit organization. Commercial antivirus has fewer additional features than security suites.

One of the biggest disadvantages of free antivirus is the lack of technical support. While you become fee-based customer, you can have phone support. Free antivirus users, usually only can get support from their forum or solve it by their self. Another tradeoff is that free antivirus products often have some sort of advertisement for the company’s commercial product by giving link in their interface or some even giving pop-up ads.

Here are some comparison point between free antivirus and commercial antivirus:

Virus signature updates Most free antivirus and their commercial version has same virus signature updates. Even though there may be some slight differences, between free and commercial antivirus.
User interfaces Free antivirus usually has the same basic user interface with commercial antivirus. The different is that in commercial version, are showing more menu or features. With similarity in its interface, user will not get confused when they move from free to commercial version.
Detection Most of the free antivirus tested, give nearly equal result in detecting malware compared to the commercial version. Commercial antivirus still have better performance at detecting malware, remove malware infections, and at removing the active components of an infection.
Speed In fact, free antiviruses were faster than those commercial versions in system startup times. In scan speeds, commercial antivirus has faster result. In the on-access scan tests, free antivirus completed the on-access scan test little faster than those commercial versions.

Knowing that some point of comparisons you now can decide which one suit for you. Test result showing that the two classes of products have the same (or slight different) in matter of speed and effectiveness. Free antivirus even can have best performance if it combined with other free products, like firewall or antispyware. The two next factors to be considered are features and customer support. With a commercial antivirus, you will get better customer support and more comprehensive security features, as fair as money you commercial. Last think you have to consider is your need and your budget. If your computer dedicated to internet transaction, you have the budget, and you want make it have better security, choose commercial antivirus. If not, using free antivirus are good enough.

Which is The Most Secure Browser?

sahlan — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:15:20 +0000

Most readers come to this blog through search engine are searching for most secure browser. I’ve tried searching any research to test browser security. The latest testing I can found was performed by NSS Labs, in September 2010. This result maybe obsolete, but it’s the best I can find. It tested web browser protection against socially-engineered malware, which the most common and impactful security threat facing Internet users today. The web browser tested are Apple Safari 5, Google Chrome 6, Windows Internet Explorer 8, Windows Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox 3.6, and Opera 10.

The method they used in their research are gathering evidence during 11 days of 24 x 7 testing, performed every six hours, over 39 discrete test runs, each one adding fresh new malware URLs. A socially-engineered malware URL they means in this research is a web page link that directly leads to a download that delivers a malicious payload whose content type would lead to execution, or more generally a website known to host malware links. These downloads appear to be safe, like those for a screen saver application, video codec upgrade, etc., and are designed to fool the user into taking action. Security professionals also refer to these threats as “consensual” or “dangerous” downloads.

Here is the result:

Most Secure Browser - Test

It gave Internet Explorer 8 and Internet Explorer 9 with consecutive win from another web browser. SmartScreen Filter technology equipped on that browser is success in giving malware protection. With a unique URL blocking score of 94% and over-time protection rating of 99%, Internet Explorer 9 was by far the best at protecting against socially-engineered malware. The 89% zero-hour block rate suggests a far superior malware identification, collection, and classification method. They also noted that there is overall decline in protection offered by Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. They urged that browser users to be concern and should install endpoint protection products giving malware protection compensating lack of protection offered by those browsers.

Download full report: NSS – Web Browser Test Socially-Engineered Malware Q3 2010